The year started well enough, and promised so much. Following the arrested development of 2020, the world seemed set to get back on the cinematic horse and ride it all the way back to the multiplexes.
Which has been true to some extent. As vaccines continue to rollout around the world — albeit slower in this country than others — public confidence grows in returning to see movies outside of our loungerooms. Of course, at the time of writing, my hometown of Sydney is in the middle of a lockdown due to growing COVID concerns. At least we have our home cinemas.
So, many festivals and releases are still operating in a hybrid function. Sundance, Berlinale, IFFR, and SXSW all operated with digital releases this year, and local festivals like MIFF look set to follow suit. Netflix, Prime, Disney+ and a slew of new VOD networks have been delivering fresh offerings. As such, 2021 has still managed to throw out more new films than any one person could keep up with.
You can find a complete ranking of 2021 so far over at my Letterboxd, but here’s my favourite picks of the first six months of the year.
Judas and the Black Messiah
Coming at us like a laser beam in March, it was an early 2020 release that’s already marked itself as one of the best films of the year. The life and death of Fed Hampton, best known as chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, has been well covered in documentary and narrative feature — so this is a film that feels far fresher than it ought to be. Backed my amazing performances, especially from is a picture that is both a historical document and a fiery fist in the air for our times. Read the full review.
Petite Maman
Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) returns to demonstrate her mastery and innate understanding of formative childhood moments, interior life and familial bonds. Sciamma manages to achieve all of this in a tidy 72 minutes. Reflecting the diminutive co-stars, the filmmaker packs a big emotional journey into a small package. Not that we needed any confirmation, but Sciamma solidifies her reputation with another amazing achievement that speaks to the child in us all. Read full review.
The Mitchells Vs. The Machines
What a wonderful surprise. From the opening frame of the mashed-up studio idents, this is one of those animated films that is clearly going for something consciously different. There’s always the concern with this hybrid approach that it will wear thin after a while, but director Mike Rianda and company buck the trend by making these characters even more endearing as the film progresses. I was delighted to laugh out loud through most of the disarmingly funny back half, as Rianda and Jeff Rowe’s hyperkinetic script genuinely splits some sides. It’s only June but we just might have a contender for Best Animated film already. More like this please.
The Edge of Daybreak
A hypnotic and meditative journey that uses four decades of political turmoil in Thailand as the backdrop for a more familial tragedy in this strikingly visually led debut. Whether you err on the side of hypnotic or tedious, Sakpisit’s film is unmistakably present. Like countryman Phuttiphong Aroonpheng (Manta Ray) or India’s Anshul Chauhan (Kontora), Sakpisit demonstrates an innate knack for bringing the inner world to visual life. Read full review.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Well, the most unique title of the year is secure at least. This film is, to put it mildly, unexpected. If you make it through the first five minutes — which I will not spoil for you here — then you’ll get to one of the most unique films of this (or probably any other) year. Ostensibly about a woman who’s life changes when a private sex tape is leaked, it really is about so much more – from Coronavirus to the the social mores of post-socialist Romania. Works best when we get to the satirical third act, in which a teacher is put on ‘trial’ by the PTA. The ending is destined to go down in history as the most outrageous in Golden Bear history. It’s the one time I wished I was with a festival audience, just to listen to them squirm. Read full review.
Malcolm & Marie
Sam Levinson’s artfully constructed two-hander, in which a filmmaker (John David Washington) and his girlfriend (Zendaya) return home from his movie premiere and unleashed a torrent of pent-up conversations, became the inadvertent lockdown mood of early 2021. That said, it’s months later and I have no memory of how the film ended or finer plot points of the film. Just like a real couple fight, the feeling lingers but the details do not.
Aristocrats
Beautifully shot and impeccably cast, Sode Yukiko’s third feature unfolds in bookish chapters to give a portrait of a life, well…lived. Based on novel by Mariko Yamauchi, Sode’s film is tale of two women. When we meet the fairly upper-class Hanako (Mugi Kadowaki), she has recently split with her fiancé. The provincially born Miki (Kiko Mizuhara), worked hard to earn a place in a fancy university but has since fallen on more difficult times. ARISTOCRATS may not be be for all tastes: it’s wanders to the slow beat of its own drum. Yet its themes of belonging and expectation are universal, and one can’t help but feel that this is the kind of film that will reveal more of its subtleties on repeat viewings. Read full review.
Introduction
INTRODUCTION may feel like a minor Hong film, running just 66 minutes and split across two countries, but it maintains his distinctive style. Hong has refined his snapshots to a series of recurring motifs, a deceptively carefree style, and a company of familiar actors. Read the full review.
Language Lessons
Natalie Morales’ film — which debuted in Berlin and also played at SXSW — may have been the biggest surprise of the season. It is essentially structured around a series of video and audio calls between Spanish teacher Cariña (Morales), who has been secretly hired by Will to give lessons to his husband Adam (Duplass). When tragedy strikes, they continue their conversations. We all need to find connection, especially over the last year, and at its corazón this is what this charming spin on the ‘lockdown film’ does. While it’s not the first Zoom/phone based drama, and it certainly won’t be the last, it might be the most heartfelt. Filled with genuine surprises and emotional turns, this is one video call where you won’t want to have a sneaky browser open. Read the full review.
The Sparks Brothers
Edgar Wright’s passion project about the legendary Sparks. You might think you know very little about Sparks going in, but you know their songs. I was completely invested in their career within the first 20 minutes. Wright assembles his Avengers of documentary talking heads — seriously, check out the list of names — for this incredibly engaging potted history of an undefinable band.
Best of the Rest
It’s been a cracker year for celebrity documentaries already, with HBO’s TINA reminding us why the legendary Tina Turner is simply the best. Both a fond look back and a celebration of the enduring nature of Kevin Smith’s career, CLERK is just like its subject: it covers a lot of ground in a compact time.
LA MIF (or The Fam) won the Generation 14plus Grand Prix at Berlin this year, and this portrait of a group of young women in a refuge home is an intense, intimate, raw and just very good.
At opposite ends of the spectrum, South Korea’s SPACE SWEEPERS live action cartoon on a grand scale, filled with sophisticated special effects, a terrific cast and a few surprises to boot. Plus it’s got Thorin Oakenshield as an anime villain. Of course, it would be impossible to not acknowledge ZACK SNYDER’s JUSTICE LEAGUE. Clocking in at just over four hours, Snyder’s restored version of his DC Comics adaptation finds something rare in the vast Multiverse – a second chance.
Finally, the only reason I’m putting Australia’s THE DROVER’S WIFE: THE LEGEND OF MOLLY JOHNSON towards the end is because it will hit cinemas later this year. Leah Purcell’s adaptation of her own play is a strong intersectional examination of the Australian western mythos, one that asks us to re-examine our history while commenting on contemporary issues.
